TeachStreet put in late hours last week getting ready for its launch in Portland over the weekend, the education startup's first step beyond Seattle and a test of the site's ability to scale to multiple cities.

The site launched in Seattle in April and began rolling out in the Rose City on Friday, with 25,000 class, teachers and instructors in the greater Portland area. Next on the list is San Francisco, perhaps followed by New York.

It was a lot of work for TeachStreet, but that's not why founder Dave Schappell has bandages on his leg. He was actually taken down by the SLUT tracks, just outside his South Lake Union office, on his way home from work last Thursday night.

A number of bicyclists have learned that the trolley tracks are a wicked hazard, but Schappell may be the first casualty on a motorscooter. His scooter wheel caught in the tracks near the intersection of Westlake and Denny, slamming him onto the pavement.

It was around midnight so there wasn't much traffic.

It's funny, Schappell said, the first thing he checked was his pocket to see if his beloved iPhone 3G was all right.

The phone's fine. Schappell took the brunt of it, emerging with a few scrapes, a smashed headlight and a newfound appreciation for helmets.

Hey Brier -- thanks for taking the time to sit down and catch up last week -- my wounds have slowly been healing, and I'm getting ready to climb back on the scooter (after getting it fixed up at University Yamaha on Pike Street, sometime soon!)

The Portland launch is going great -- was a very busy weekend getting all of the final bugs resolved, but so far, so good!

Gadgets and games | Fun stuff I've written about lately includes Apple's iPhone, Hewlett-Packard's HDX laptop and Microsoft's Halo3. Also on the radar are new digital video boxes such as the Tivo HD and the Vudu.